Summary

Summary

On Scotland's roads in 2011 there were:

  • 9,974 reported injury accidents in which 12,770 people were reported as being casualties;
  • 2,061 people reported killed or seriously injured (186 of whom died);
  • 7,770 casualties in cars, 89 of whom died;
  • 2,059 pedestrian casualties, of whom 43 were killed;
  • 808 motor cyclist casualties (of whom 33 were killed);
  • 1,315 child1 casualties, 203 of whom were seriously injured (7 of them died);
  • 645 child1 pedestrian casualties - 139 were seriously injured (2 died).

Between 2001 and 2011:

  • The number of fatal accidents fell by 43%, from 309 to 176;
  • The total of fatal and serious accidents fell by 41%, from 3,149 to 1,847;
  • The total number of accidents (all severities) fell by 32%, from 14,724 to 9,974;
  • The number of people killed fell by 47%, from 348 to 186;
  • The total of seriously injured casualties fell by 45%, from 3,410 to 1,875;
  • The total number of casualties (all severities) fell by 36%, from 19,911 to 12,770;
  • Car user casualties fell by 37%, from 12,294 to 7,770;
  • Pedestrian casualties fell by 40%, from 3,405 to 2,059;
  • Pedal cycle casualties fell by 10%, from 916 to 824;
  • Motor cycle casualties fell by 31%, from 1,178 to 808;
  • Male casualties fell by 35%, from 11,301 to 7,298;
  • Female casualties fell by 36%, from 8,582 to 5,466;
  • Casualties aged 16-22 fell by 40% from 3,703 to 2,239;
  • Casualties aged 23-59 fell by 33% from 10,929 to 7,353;
  • Casualties aged 60 and over fell by 20% from 2,287 to 1,841;
  • Child1 fatalities fell from 20 to 7;
  • Child1 seriously injured casualties fell by 61% from 524 to 203;
  • The total number of child1 casualties (all severities) fell by 55% from 2,923 to 1,315;
  • Child1 pedestrian fatalities fell from 14 to 2;
  • Child1 pedestrians seriously injured casualties fell by 59% from 339 to 139;
  • The total number of child1 pedestrian casualties fell by 56% from 1,475 to 645;
  • The estimated number of drink-drive accidents fell by around a third, from about 780 (in 2000) to roughly 530 (in 2010 - the latest year for which estimates are available); it's estimated that the number of people killed in such accidents fell from about 40 to around 30;
  • The estimated total cost of all road accidents in Scotland (including damage only accidents) at constant 2010 prices, fell by 41%, from £1,930 million to £1,140 million.

Over the longer-term:

  • Between 1950 and 2011 (inclusive), 34,871 people were killed, and a total of about 1.505 million people were either killed or injured, in accidents on Scotland's roads;
  • In 1962 (the earliest year for which a figure is available), there were roughly 775,000 vehicles licensed in Scotland, whereas in 2011 the vehicle population stood at 2.691 million. Over the same period, the number of casualties fell from about 26,700 to around 12,800. Therefore whilst the vehicle stock has more than trebled, the number of casualties has actually halved.
Table A: Summary of reported road injury accident and reported casualty statistics: 2001 to 2011
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Accidents
Fatal 309 274 301 283 264 293 255 245 196 189 176
Fatal & serious 3,149 2,958 2,796 2,614 2,516 2,550 2,304 2,487 2,195 1,901 1,847
All severities 14,724 14,343 13,917 13,919 13,438 13,110 12,506 12,158 11,556 10,295 9,974
Accidents on built-up(1) roads
Fatal 91 71 85 90 76 83 71 82 56 56 62
Fatal & serious 1,648 1,599 1,474 1,322 1,300 1,347 1,207 1,359 1,089 981 1,013
All severities 9,436 9,185 8,745 8,708 8,387 8,197 7,781 7,463 6,990 6,341 6,354
Accidents on non built-up(1) roads
Fatal 218 203 216 193 188 210 184 163 140 133 114
Fatal & serious 1,501 1,359 1,322 1,292 1,216 1,203 1,097 1,128 1,106 920 834
All severities 5,288 5,158 5,172 5,211 5,051 4,913 4,725 4,695 4,566 3,954 3,620
Drink-drive accidents and casualties(2)
Accidents 800 820 750 710 660 720 670 660 660 530
Casualties (all severities) 1,190 1,270 1,130 1,060 990 980 940 960 920 750
Killed 70 50 50 40 30 30 30 40 30 20
Killed by mode of transport
Pedestrian 76 73 63 76 66 61 60 60 47 47 43
Pedal cycle 10 8 14 7 16 10 4 9 5 7 7
Motor cycle 49 46 50 42 34 58 40 34 43 35 33
Car 194 154 189 167 153 175 160 153 116 105 89
Other (eg taxi, bus, goods) 19 23 20 16 17 10 17 14 5 14 14
All modes of transport 348 304 336 308 286 314 281 270 216 208 186
Seriously injured casualties by mode
Pedestrian 842 820 712 674 677 688 594 645 509 457 513
Pedal cycle 161 144 125 121 116 131 147 155 152 138 156
Motor cycle 405 410 367 353 371 352 381 396 332 319 293
Car 1,758 1,628 1,511 1,414 1,304 1,258 1,110 1,203 1,136 902 756
Other (eg taxi, bus, goods) 244 227 242 204 198 206 153 176 159 152 157
All modes of transport 3,410 3,229 2,957 2,766 2,666 2,635 2,385 2,575 2,288 1,968 1,875
Slightly injured casualties by mode
Pedestrian 2,487 2,423 2,215 2,328 2,308 2,104 2,049 1,887 1,643 1,510 1,503
Pedal cycle 745 676 663 648 649 640 563 566 647 636 661
Motor cycle 724 711 697 599 677 658 640 612 646 491 482
Car 10,342 10,050 10,055 10,024 9,532 9,272 8,793 8,314 8,327 7,293 6,925
Other (eg taxi, bus, goods) 1,855 1,882 1,833 1,829 1,767 1,646 1,527 1,367 1,276 1,232 1,138
All modes of transport 16,153 15,742 15,463 15,428 14,933 14,320 13,572 12,746 12,539 11,162 10,709
All casualties by mode, by sex and by age
Pedestrian 3,405 3,316 2,990 3,078 3,051 2,853 2,703 2,592 2,199 2,014 2,059
Pedal cycle 916 828 802 776 781 781 714 730 804 781 824
Motor cycle 1,178 1,167 1,114 994 1,082 1,068 1,061 1,042 1,021 845 808
Car 12,294 11,832 11,755 11,605 10,989 10,705 10,063 9,670 9,579 8,300 7,770
Other (eg taxi, bus, goods) 2,118 2,132 2,095 2,049 1,982 1,862 1,697 1,557 1,440 1,398 1,309
All modes of transport 19,911 19,275 18,756 18,502 17,885 17,269 16,238 15,591 15,043 13,338 12,770
Male 11,301 11,086 10,657 10,473 10,204 9,723 9,302 8,843 8,450 7,541 7,298
Female 8,582 8,176 8,086 8,016 7,658 7,532 6,916 6,737 6,587 5,787 5,466
Child: 0 - 15 2,923 2,745 2,480 2,395 2,172 2,022 1,817 1,689 1,473 1,378 1,315
Young adult: 16-22 3,703 3,587 3,467 3,463 3,540 3,559 3,419 3,174 3,084 2,491 2,239
Adult: 23-59 10,929 10,667 10,426 10,340 9,926 9,566 8,929 8,706 8,452 7,712 7,353
Older adults: 60+ 2,287 2,226 2,330 2,258 2,218 2,090 2,044 2,000 1,997 1,732 1,841
Child4 killed by mode of transport
Pedestrian 14 12 5 8 5 9 4 4 1 1 2
Pedal cycle 4 - 2 - 4 5 1 2 1 1 -
Car 2 2 10 3 1 10 4 13 3 1 5
Other (eg m/c, taxi, bus...) - - - 1 1 1 - 1 - 1 -
All modes of transport 20 14 17 12 11 25 9 20 5 4 7
Child4 seriously injured casualties by mode
Pedestrian 339 328 268 239 239 239 181 194 155 150 139
Pedal cycle 52 46 46 40 26 35 28 18 26 23 23
Car 108 109 83 74 68 60 51 56 62 40 34
Other (eg m/c, taxi, bus...) 25 30 18 19 24 16 9 11 10 10 7
All modes of transport 524 513 415 372 357 350 269 279 253 223 203
All child4 casualties by mode
Pedestrian 1,475 1,296 1,201 1,180 1,099 993 882 831 674 643 645
Pedal cycle 307 277 276 263 219 209 174 150 148 146 135
Car 950 926 825 805 684 657 633 569 548 505 460
Other (eg m/c, taxi, bus...) 191 246 178 147 170 163 128 139 103 84 75
All modes of transport 2,923 2,745 2,480 2,395 2,172 2,022 1,817 1,689 1,473 1,378 1,315
Accident costs (£ million)(3) 1,930 1,804 1,787 1,704 1,626 1,647 1,515 1,508 1,341 1,208 1,140

1. Built-up roads have a speed limit of up to 40mph; Non built-up roads have a speed limit of over 40mph
2. Estimates, adjusted for under-reporting as described in the text accompanying Table 22. The latest year's estimates are not yet available.
3. Estimated total costs (including damage only accidents) at 2010 prices, calculated as described in the text accompanying Tables 9 to 11.
4. Child 0-15 years

Table B: Summary of reported injury accidents and reported casualties by police force area, council and severity: 2011
Accidents Casualties Child casualties
Fatal Serious Slight Total Killed Serious Slight Total All severities
Northern 19 92 456 567 22 109 664 795 50
Highland 18 83 387 488 21 98 566 685 44
Orkney Islands - 2 11 13 - 2 24 26 0
Shetland Islands - 4 28 32 - 5 41 46 4
Eilean Siar 1 3 30 34 1 4 33 38 2
Grampian 22 269 726 1,017 23 312 902 1,237 103
Aberdeen City 8 94 260 362 8 98 304 410 42
Aberdeenshire 10 153 355 518 11 190 462 663 47
Moray 4 22 111 137 4 24 136 164 14
Tayside 23 166 561 750 25 199 763 987 116
Dundee City 2 50 185 237 2 52 243 297 49
Angus 5 48 167 220 5 57 228 290 30
Perth & Kinross 16 68 209 293 18 90 292 400 37
Fife 11 80 357 448 11 92 494 597 78
Lothian & Borders 20 327 1,826 2,173 22 349 2,296 2,667 261
Edinburgh, City of 9 162 1,009 1,180 10 166 1,195 1,371 125
West Lothian 2 58 323 383 2 63 432 497 47
Midlothian 2 26 149 177 3 27 194 224 24
East Lothian 1 24 134 159 1 29 177 207 32
Scottish Borders 6 57 211 274 6 64 298 368 33
Central 9 94 442 545 9 110 598 717 67
Clackmannanshire 2 7 55 64 2 10 76 88 13
Stirling 6 50 164 220 6 57 231 294 24
Falkirk 1 37 223 261 1 43 291 335 30
Strathclyde 63 568 3,525 4,156 65 620 4,662 5,347 611
Glasgow, City 13 169 1,099 1,281 13 177 1,388 1,578 184
Argyll & Bute 4 48 178 230 5 58 253 316 23
West Dunbartonshire 4 22 119 145 4 22 154 180 28
East Dunbartonshire - 16 124 140 - 16 162 178 14
Inverclyde 1 23 131 155 1 26 181 208 27
Renfrewshire 7 49 298 354 7 52 424 483 42
East Renfrewshire 2 11 103 116 2 12 140 154 14
North Lanarkshire 11 57 501 569 11 59 677 747 96
South Lanarkshire 10 71 432 513 11 78 581 670 79
North Ayrshire 4 34 192 230 4 39 238 281 48
East Ayrshire 4 33 167 204 4 43 219 266 27
South Ayrshire 3 35 181 219 3 38 245 286 29
Dumfries & Galloway 9 75 234 318 9 84 330 423 29
Scotland 176 1,671 8,127 9,974 186 1,875 10,709 12,770 1,315
of which:
Built up roads 62 951 5,341 6,354 64 1,000 6,610 7,674 1,025
Non- built up roads 114 720 2,786 3,620 122 875 4,099 5,096 290